Stainless steel spiral handrails provide a stunning support for climbers of Perth's new Bell Tower complex.
Grade 316 stainless steel tube was used to construct handrails for an internal spiral staircase and for an observation platform on the building's sixth floor.
170 metres of tube was used for the staircase, which was spiralled and fixed to the mild steel structure of the building. Washers and neoprene gaskets were used to separate the stainless steel from the mild steel, avoiding corrosion issues caused by dissimilar metal contact.
The handrails were fabricated by Tubelok Metals Australia in their Cannington (Western Australia) workshop and brought into the Bell Tower in six metre lengths.
Handrails on the sixth floor observation platform were secured to the structure with patch fittings through toughened glass, with 40 metres of stainless steel pipe used in total.
All handrail for the project was polished to a AWBP finish (as welded buff polished)_ Stainless steel for the project was supplied by ASSDA member Austral Wright Metals.
This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 18, May 2001.